Web Publishing Update: Google, Newspapers and Twitter

While you were Googling, AOL named a new CEO and chairman. Tim Armstrong, who headed up ad sales in the Americas for Google, will replace Randy Falco as chairman and CEO. As well, AOL President and COO Ron Grant is leaving the company. Perhaps Armstrong was in need of a challenge, as AOL does not have the strength of either Google or even Yahoo in terms of advertising assets or traffic. Now things will get interesting. Everything you knew about AOL is about to change.

Every Click You Click, Google's Watching You (But only on Wednesdays)

In honor of Armstrong's move, Google will begin showing ads on Wednesday to people based on their previous online activities in a form of advertising known as behavioral targeting. Of course, one person's search is another's attempt at invading privacy. But Google has a plan.

It will offer new ways for users to protect their privacy, like giving users the ability to see and edit the information that it has compiled about their interests for the purposes of behavioral targeting. Users can ultimately opt out from what it calls “interest-based advertising.”

Such an interest in behavioral targeting wasn't overnight. It most likely came from the company's integration of DoubleClick, an advertising technology company that Google acquired a year ago. Google bought DoubleClick, which is used by advertisers and publishers to manage their ad campaigns, to extend its advertising empire into display ads, which it sees as the next best hope to reignite its growth.

Don't Let the Printing Press Hit You on the Way Out

If only everything could be as successful as Google. Especially newspapers, which I am sure you've heard are taking a few hits. On Tuesday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran its last printed edition and will now exist only in a web-based version. Some people, like those who worked at the paper, cared.

According to research from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, nearly half (42%) of Americans say they wouldn’t miss reading their local newspaper if it were to shut down while 43% say that losing their local newspaper would hurt civic life in their community “a lot,”

However, to be fair Pew didn't bother to indicate that losing their local paper would not just include the print version, but the online one as well. I'm sure more people would have cared.

News in 140 Characters or Less

Speaking of newspapers, in the UK Twitter now outranks them. Last week Twitter.com was the 54th most visited website in the UK, up from 66th the week before. Twitter received more UK Internet visits than the homepages of the Guardian, Times, Sun and Telegraph. It also over took Google News UK. Of the main newspaper homepages, only the Daily Mail received more UK Internet visits than Twitter last week.